"Menschen, die ihr wart verloren" (German, literally: Humans, you who were lost) is a German Christmas carol. It was originally written by the Catholic priest

Christoph Bernhard Verspoell Christoph Bernhard Verspoell (15 May 1743 – 5 January 1818) was a German Catholic priest, writer and hymnwriter. He published a hymnal with added melodies and organ settings in 1810. Some of his songs are still popular and part of the Catholic ...

, both the text in ten

stanza In poetry, a stanza (; from Italian language, Italian ''stanza'' , "room") is a group of lines within a poem, usually set off from others by a blank line or Indentation (typesetting), indentation. Stanzas can have regular rhyme scheme, rhyme and ...

s and the . It became part of several regional versions of the Catholic hymnal ''Gotteslob'' in 1975,GL 843 (Aachen), 878 (Berlin), 805 (Dresden-Meissen/Erfurt/Görlitz/Magdeburg), 821 (Essen), 801 (Fulda), 845 (Hamburg), 843 (Köln), 908 (Münster), 850 (Osnabrück), 834 (Paderborn), 809 (Trier), 950 (Würzburg) but was included in the common section (''Stammteil'') in the current ''

Gotteslob ''Gotteslob'' ("Praise of God") is the title of the hymnbook authorized by the Catholic dioceses in Germany, Austria, South Tyrol, Luxembourg and Liège, Belgium. First published in Advent 2013, it is the current official hymnal for German-speaki ...

'' in 2013, as GL 245 in four stanzas, the former stanzas 1, 5, 8 and 9. The first stanza addresses humans who were lost, telling them to live up and be joyful, because God became equal to men ("den Menschen gleich"). The

refrain A refrain (from Vulgar Latin ''refringere'', "to repeat", and later from Old French ''refraindre'') is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in poetry — the "chorus" of a song. Poetic fixed forms that feature refrains include the vi ...

calls them to give thanks by singing "Glory to God in the highest", alluding to the

Annunciation The Annunciation (from Latin '), also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Annunciation of Our Lady, or the Annunciation of the Lord, is the Christian celebration of the biblical tale of the announcement by the ange ...

. The second stanza reflects the mystery of the Creator as a helpless child, the third stanza names love as the reason for this act, and the final stanza calls to love him in return.

Melody

\addlyrics \addlyrics \midi Source: Text and melody: Christoph Bernhard Verspoell, Münster 1810. composed a different melody when he included Verspoell's text in his Christmas

oratorio An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is mus ...

''Weihnachtsoratorium'', Op. 5.

References

* ''Gesänge beim römischkatholischen Gottesdienste, nebst angehängtem Gebethbuche'', hrsg. von C. B. Verspoell, Aschendorff, Münster 1829
p. 18p. 19p. 20

External links

* Deutsches Liturgisches Institut
»Menschen, die ihr wart verloren« (GL 245)
* * {{authority control German-language Christmas carols Catholic hymns in German 1810 songs 19th-century hymns in German